This I Believe

I believe in trying everything once. It has been the way my mom brought me up. I had to eat every piece of food on our plate no matter how bad or good it was. Every sport you could think of was signed up for no questions asked. Taking as wide range of classes was rewarded. That is how I was brought up and that’s the way I live my life today. How many times have you heard a movie was “terrible” or “not funny.” Then you happen to see it and you love it. How many times have you heard “tomatoes are disgusting” and you try a sugar covered tomato and it tastes like candy. How many times have you been persuaded to NOT do something that you regret later? I live my life with the intention of no regrets. I know people that won’t go outside their inner barrier. They aren’t necessarily scared of things but they have no urge to try them. If you live this way, you might never meet the funniest person you have ever met. You might not eat the best tasting food you’ve tasted. You might not have met that crazy guy you laughed with for hours. You might not have found your passion. You might have not found your special someone. If you try everything once you will know what you do not like. You will know what you want to stay away from. In the end, you might experience a more exciting, knowledgeable, courageous and confident life. You too, might believe in…trying everything once.

I believe in laughing at yourself. I believe in being able to take laughter. I used to be scared of embarrassing myself. I used to be scared of being made fun of. Doing many dumb or clumsy things (like I have) attracts laughter. Growing up my older brother made fun of me for almost everything. I turned into a shy, scared kid as I was too worried about what other people thought of me. I was scared to be me. “People wouldn’t like me.” I’ve been shy all of my life up until this year. I started hanging out with new friends who didn’t care what they looked like, how goofy they acted, how silly they sounded. I started to believe that they might like my weird self. I realized that being you is all you have to give. I’m still becoming freer by the day. These are the people that I can see as lifelong friends. It’s the people that laugh with you and at you that are your best friends. It might turn into someone you can tell anything to. It’s the first time in the 19 years of my life that I can look at myself, make fun of everything that happens to me, and laugh it off. I am not ashamed to win our award “dumb thing of the week.” Sure it might be dumb, but I would rather be dumb than be nothing. I would rather live being laughed at and with than being a fake. I will not be a fake from here on…

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Top 100 Essays USB Drive

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This week’s essay

Growing up in the former Yugoslavia, lawyer Djenita Pasic enjoyed the peace of her religiously diverse country. But after the fall of communism and the outbreak of the Bosnian War, Pasic was forced to reevaluate her ideas about religion and tolerance. Click here to read her essay.